The present invention relates to a bridge for intersecting cable raceways.
Cables, such as data and electrical cables, fiber optic cables and/or wires may extend either along or behind a supporting surface, such as a wall or a ceiling. These cables may be supported and guided by a cable raceway.
An exemplary cable raceway assembly, includes a U-shaped tray having lateral sides that define a space for supporting cable therein. The tray may, for example, be affixed to a wall or ceiling. The open side of the tray may be closed by a cover.
In some situations, different runs of cables and/or wires may intersect along their normal paths. At least one of the conventional cable raceways may have to be interrupted where the cable raceways cross. Further, intersecting cables may cause electrical interference, wearing of cables, undesirable bends or stretches of cables, etc. and portions of the cables may be exposed and not properly supported in the vicinity of the interruption.
Also, a cable raceway may intersect and cross other objects at the wall or ceiling or in its path. These objects may include other conduits, pipes, radiator system pipes, shaping of the wall or ceiling, e.g. at a beam or support or any other object that would provide an obstacle to the continuous run of a continuous raceway or to the bottom or like attachment side of the raceway resting flush against the wall or ceiling adjacent the location where the raceway passes the obstacle. When confronted with an obstacle to a straight run of a raceway along a surface, contractors have bent a raceway in the field to wrap over or pass the obstacle. For unbendable raceway or as an alternative to bending, installers have built up the surface for the runway, e.g., by pieces of plywood or shims to raise the raceway at the intersection. Sometimes, the installers must reroute raceway to pass an obstacle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bridge to enable intersection of cable raceways.
Another object is to provide a raceway bridge design which is adaptable to pass any obstacle at the surface to which the raceway is supported.
The invention is described as an example here at the one raceway intersecting a second raceway. That is an example of one type of obstacle that a raceway run might encounter. In one form of the invention, one of the raceways is unchanged in character as it passes across the other raceway. The other second raceway includes a bridge at the intersection. The bridge is an intermediate piece disposed between the opposed, separated ends of two sections of the second raceway. The bridge has a cross-section shaped generally to the cross section of ends of the sections of the second raceway which it joins. Cables or wires run from one of those two raceway sections, through the correspondingly shaped bridge to the other of those two raceway sections, whereby the cables or wires are fully supported and do not contact the intersecting first raceway or the cables or wires supported in the intersecting first raceway or contact any other obstacle passed over by the bridge.
To permit the by passage of the intersecting first raceway, the other second raceway bridge has a shaped fixture. That permits the first raceway or other obstacle to pass by the second raceway. In a preferred form, the fixture of the second raceway comprises a tunnel with an open bottom defined on the bottom side of the bridge. The tunnel is shaped large enough so that the intersecting first raceway might pass through, yet small enough with reference to the remainder of the second raceway as to not prevent passage over the bridge of the cables extending between the two raceway sections joined by the bridge of the second raceway.
The height of the second raceway is selected related to the nature and quantity of the cables to be carried in that raceway. A higher profile raceway may be tall enough that the height of the bridge is the same height as the second raceway, while the first raceway or obstacle may easily pass through the tunnel of the second raceway. Where the first raceway or other obstacle is taller with respect to the second raceway having the bridge in it, in order that the second raceway be tall enough at the bridge to enable the tunnel of the second and the first raceway or obstacle passing through the tunnel to intersect while the bridge permits cable to extend in the second raceway, the bridge is profiled taller e.g. has a hump, over the first raceway or obstacle.
The bottom side of the second raceway and of the bridge therein typically is the side that is attached to the wall or the ceiling or other surface. If there were no fixture or tunnel, the intersecting first raceway or obstacle might push the second raceway up off the surface where the raceways cross. The fixture or tunnel is large enough, that is the top of the fixture or tunnel is high enough above the bottom of the bridge, so that the fixture or tunnel can receive the first intersecting raceway or obstacle and so that the bottom surface of the bridge and therefore of the associated raceway sections can remain against the supporting surface.
The top of the tunnel is preferably closed to prevent contact between the cables in the first raceway or the obstacle on the one hand and the second raceway on the other hand as they pass each other.
The open side of the raceway is closed by a cover adapted to be coupled to the body. The bridge body includes a bottom surface and at least two lateral sides. The lateral sides are configured to couple to the cover. The body may further include a divider arranged in the continuous cable pathway to separate cables extending over the bridge.
Other objects and features of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.